The Real Reason Trump Hates ‘Windmills’ QUIXOTIC CRUSADE

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-real-reason-trump-hates-windmills?ref=home?ref=home

His obsession with wind turbines—which he blames for a variety of domestic and foreign policy ills—originates from a dispute he had with the Scottish Parliament over windmills near his golf course outside Aberdeen, Scotland, two decades ago.

Trump has floated many conspiracies and criticisms of “windmills,” most of them completely inane. He also does this even though it typically doesn’t provoke a strong reaction from his MAGA rally crowds—which is a bit unusual.

Vaping May Cause 'Substantial' Heart Failure Risk Increase

 https://www.newsweek.com/vaping-cause-substantial-heart-failure-risk-1885920

While vaping may be a safer alternative to smoking tobacco, previous studies have associated e-cigarette use with an increased risk for lung disease, asthma, damaged blood vessels and heart disease, particularly among those with preexisting health conditions. Now, a large study lead by MedStar Health in Baltimore has shown that e-cigarette users may be 19 percent more likely to develop heart failure compared to those who have never vaped.

TOWARD A SOCIOLOGY OF "PSAK"

 file:///C:/Users/Daniel/Downloads/Toward-a-Sociology.pdf

This article is entitled, "Toward a Sociology of Psak," for several reasons. One is to emphasize its tentative nature. Rather than definitive, it is intended to be suggestive, both in terms of the realm of the subject matter and any and all specific issues which the article raises.

Secondly, it is by no means exhaustive. Rather, it points to a variety of areas and issues which might well belong in a sociology of psak, butclearly there are many others which have not even touched upon. Hopefully, this article wil stimulate further deliberation which will lead tobroader and deeper analyses of the entire area. Ideally, a sociology of psak should include, as a beginning, an analysis of the role of the social in psak,such as the role of social conditions in the determination of halakhah; the social factors which influence who is viewed as the posek, in general and in particular; and an analysis of which segments in the community are likely to seek out psak and from whom

Money purifies Mamzerim

Kiddushin (71a) Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Money purifies mamzerim. Money causes rich mamzerim to become assimilated with Jews of unflawed lineage, since other families marry them despite their flawed lineage. In the future, God will not single them out as mamzerim, as it is stated: “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,” which teaches that money, i.e., silver, purifies them. What, then, is the connection to the next part of the verse: “They that shall offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness”? Rabbi Yitzḥak says: The Holy One, Blessed be He, performed an act of righteousness with the Jewish people by establishing that a family that has become assimilated with Jews of unflawed lineage remains assimilated. They are not removed from their tribe despite their flawed lineage.  With regard to the matter itself that was discussed earlier, the lineage of the Jews in various lands,

Koheles (10:19) For laughter bread is made, and wine gladdens life, and money answers all things. 

The Convictions Of Three Lev Tahor Leaders Of Child Exploitation And Kidnapping

 https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/statement-us-attorney-damian-williams-convictions-three-lev-tahor-leaders-child

“Yoil Weingarten, Yakov Weingarten, and Shmiel Weingarten, leaders of Lev Tahor, an extremist Jewish sect based in Guatemala, have been found guilty of kidnapping a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl and transporting the 14-year-old girl outside the United States to continue a sexual relationship with her adult male ‘husband.’  With this verdict, all nine Lev Tahor leaders and operatives charged for these heinous crimes have been held accountable.  The defendants’ conduct — which included forced child marriages, physical beatings, and family separations — is unthinkable and has caused irreparable harm to children in their formative years.  Whether in the name of religion or any other belief system, subjecting children to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse will never be tolerated by this Office.”

AG says army must start process to draft Haredim, warns against trying to bypass court

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/ag-says-army-must-start-process-to-draft-haredim-warns-against-trying-to-bypass-court/

In a letter to legal advisers for both ministries, Baharav-Miara and Deputy Attorney General Gil Lemon noted that the state needs to tell the High Court of Justice by the end of the month what steps it is taking to draft the Haredi community.

“Beginning April 1, 2024, there will be no source of authority for a blanket exemption from military conscription for yeshiva students, and the defense establishment must act to draft them into military service in accordance with the law,” wrote Baharav-Miara, in a letter first published by Channel 13 news.

A government resolution from June 2023 instructing the IDF to temporarily not draft Haredi students despite the expiration of a law governing the matter will expire at midnight on Sunday night.

By March 31, the government was supposed to have found a way to comply with a court ruling from 2017, which determined blanket military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to be discriminatory and illegal.

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox block Route 4 in protest against IDF conscription

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/hundreds-of-ultra-orthodox-block-route-4-in-protest-against-idf-conscription/

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked the Route 4 highway outside the central city of Bnei Brak during a demonstration against conscription to the military on Monday, the date set as a deadline for the Defense Ministry to begin drafting Haredim.

The demonstrators belonged to the extremist Jerusalem Faction, which numbers some 60,000 members and regularly demonstrates against the enlistment of yeshiva students.

Protesters held banners reading “To jail and not the army,” “We will die rather than draft,” “Stalin is here,” and “Russia is here.” Police arrested six demonstrators and forcefully cleared the highway after the demonstrators refused to leave, opening the road to traffic after two hours.

Republicans slam Biden for proclaiming Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter, though it’s yearly observed on March 31

 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/30/politics/easter-trans-day-visibility-trump-biden-johnson/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

Elizabeth Alexander, a spokesperson for first lady Dr. Jill Biden, cast the Republican egg complaints as “misleading swirl” and posted on X, “The American Egg Board flyer’s standard non-discrimination language requesting artwork has been used for the last 45 years, across all Dem & Republican Admins.”

Fox News Runs Wild With Two Very Dumb Easter Outrages

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-runs-wild-with-two-very-dumb-easter-outrages?ref=home

Just ahead of the Easter weekend, the White House issued nearly a dozen proclamations that included recognition for Cesar Chavez Day, Month of the Military Child, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. The administration also proclaimed Sunday to be Transgender Day of Visibility, a day of awareness that was established in 2009 and has been held annually on March 31.

Torah comes from the Children of the Poor

 Nedarim (81a) Be on guard against scabs; take good care to study in company and be heedful not to neglect the children of the poor, for from them Torah goeth forth, as it is written, The water shall flow out of his buckets meaning, from the poor amongst them goeth forth Torah. And why is it not usual for scholars to give birth to sons who are scholars? — Said R. Joseph, That it might not be maintained, The Torah is their legacy. R. Shisha, the son of R. Idi, said: That they should not be arrogant towards the community. Mar Zutra said: Because they act high-handedly against the community. R. Ashi said: Because they call people asses. Rabina said: Because they do not first utter a blessing over the Torah.    

U.S. and Israel’s ‘Unprecedented’ Intelligence Sharing Draws Criticism

 https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-and-israels-unprecedented-intelligence-sharing-draws-criticism-a85979b4?mod=hp_lead_pos1

The intelligence sharing with Israel is conducted under a secret memorandum that the White House issued shortly after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and amended a few days later, U.S. officials said. At about the same time, the U.S. expanded its intelligence collection on Gaza, having largely relied on Israel to spy on the enclave in recent years.

Donald Trump Warns Americans 'Won't Have a Country' If He Loses in November

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-warns-americans-wont-have-country-if-he-loses-november-1885362

Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, weighed in on a variety of topics — including his likely rematch with Democratic rival President Joe Biden on November 5 — during an interview with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade that aired on Saturday night.

"The most important day in the history of our country is going to be November 5," Trump said. "Our country is going bad. And it's going to be changed on November 5, and if it's not changed we're not going to have a country anymore."

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump's campaign, doubled down on the former president's remarks, telling Newsweek in an email on Saturday night: "Without law and order and safety for all Americans, we won't have a country anymore."

Israel should ignore Biden and finish the job in Rafah

 https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4565296-israel-should-ignore-biden-and-finish-the-job-in-rafah/

Israel has committed to going into Rafah, and the United States should work to ensure the operation is a success. Biden claims his objections to the Rafah operation are humanitarian in nature. If that’s the case, we should be pressuring Egypt to open humanitarian corridors and temporary camps in the Sinai Peninsula, where Gazan civilians can relocate while military operations remain ongoing. 

Daas Torah Marriage Review

 Fascinating and Comprehensive

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2024

Verified Purchase

The topic is fascinating and the work is comprehensive. I enjoyed learning the topics from the sources. The book does not contain "questions" which the sources "answer" but are lumped by broad category. This is great because it is objective and allows the reader to decide for himself. However, it also makes answers hard to find.

For example, I wondered what the Torah view on whether Homosexuality is nature or nurture. I found nothing in the section on Homosexuality but in the section of differences between gender I found a reference to the mekubal the Rekanti that there is no gender swap between Gilgulim (if u were a women in a previous Gilgul u will be reincarnated as a women) and that if a soul were to be in a the wrong body gender it would be infertile. My inference is that according to the Rekanti, gender disphoria can be real but such a person would be infertile. If a fertile person claimed gender disphoria it would not be genuine.

Similarly, if one wanted to look up "spicier topics" such as unconventional sex (anything other than missionary), one would not easily come to a conclusion. Relevant headings are Somdomy, Pleasure, Zera Livatala, and Rabbi Friedeld.

Last example, I was hard pressed to find the Daas Torah on how to Foreplay. The best I found was in the section "Behavior with wife can be learned from animals" it cites a Talmud passage to arouse one's wife with promises of clothing even if there is no intent to fulfill.

One section I was dissatisfied with was Birth Control. I assume the author did not wish to navigate such murky waters or that very little has been actually published on the subject.

All in all, amazing buy and highly recommended.